In July 2015, for instance, an outdoor concert featuring Rod Stewart was somewhat sullied when fans needed winter coats to survive unseasonably cold temperatures.Īt the end of the two-week festival, the big blue tent and everything inside it is being packed up and tucked away for next time. So far, the world O'Keefe has created under the tent seems to have all that and more.Īs a bonus, the tent also insulates the festival (pun intended) against the famously fickle weather of St. "How do you minimize the lines, how do you make sure the beer is cold, how do you make sure the music is loud?" "It's all about the patron experience." O'Keefe said. He says he put everything he's learned about concerts into this festival. O'Keefe was the longtime head of George Street Association, the group that manages events on the city's most famous bar-lined block - including the George Street Festival, one of the largest tourist attractions in Newfoundland and Labrador. And libations flow from three separate bars: one for wine and spirits, one for draft beer, and speed-bar selling beer cans only. Local food vendors serve tacos and smoked brisket at both ends of the tent. It was loaded into crates and shipped across the Atlantic, along with the support structures and 800 bleacher seats.Įverything else under the canvas was custom-built for the festival, from the enormous plywood floor to the elevated lounges and VIP areas. The tent was sourced from a seller in London, England. "And we thought, why don't we go and try to do something that's just as good or better." "Many of the people I work with have been around the world and seen different venues and different festival settings." he said. O'Keefe says the promoters knew people would be surprised.īut what they really wanted was for people to be wowed. But even when the bands were announced and tickets went on sale, no one in the city knew what to expect when they walked inside. Was it a circus? A car show? A really, really rich person's wedding?Įventually, word of a music festival got out. John's watched as the giant tent slowly took shape. And a big-top, 25,000 square-foot tent in the heart of Quidi Vidi is something that's never been done before."įor several months this spring, curious citizens of St. "We wanted to show something that people had never seen before. "The buzz that was created was something that couldn't be replicated anywhere else." said Seamus O'Keefe, the festival's event manager.
The Iceberg Alley Performance Tent is a nine-day, 12-concert music festival.Īnd while the music is what people are coming to see, it's the tent that people want to know more about.
The headliners thrilled the crowd, many of whom already had tickets for the festival's other nights, featuring the Arkells, Sloan, Big Sugar and more top Canadian talent.īut despite the big names on the bill, the biggest star of the festival is turning out to be the venue itself: a big blue tent near Quidi Vidi Lake. John's, The Strumbellas hit the stage to open a brand-new music festival.
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